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stacyroth's review against another edition
4.0
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
The Rejected Writers book club is a group of women in Southlea Bay, Washington who bond over getting rejection letters for their books. When the leader of the book club, Doris, gets an acceptance letter,the group is horrified, and Doris ropes Janet Johnson, a librarian in Southlea Bay, into helping them come up with a plan to get the publisher to turn the acceptance letter into another rejection letter.
The characters in this book were really something else! The story was very funny, and I read it all in one day because I couldn't wait to find out what they would do next. The book says it is the first in a series about Southlea Bay, so I hope we will get to see more of these characters as the series continues.
The Rejected Writers book club is a group of women in Southlea Bay, Washington who bond over getting rejection letters for their books. When the leader of the book club, Doris, gets an acceptance letter,the group is horrified, and Doris ropes Janet Johnson, a librarian in Southlea Bay, into helping them come up with a plan to get the publisher to turn the acceptance letter into another rejection letter.
The characters in this book were really something else! The story was very funny, and I read it all in one day because I couldn't wait to find out what they would do next. The book says it is the first in a series about Southlea Bay, so I hope we will get to see more of these characters as the series continues.
tessa_palomeque's review against another edition
3.0
The best word I can think of to describe this book is quirky. I have never known a group of grown women to have so many ridiculous things happen to them. While the overall story was lighthearted and fun, the flow of the story needed some serious help. The ending was wonderful, I just wish I could say the same for the rest of the book.
bethpeninger's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.
What a fun read! I love the idea of celebrating rejection. And this celebration of rejection is actually a celebration of friendship. Super fun story and characters, A fun stereotype of a small town and some of its residents.
Janet has been living in Southlea Bay for 5 years. She's happy there but lacks any good friendships. One day she receives a call from one of the more colorful residents of the town issuing her a mysterious invite to a secret meeting. Doris, the hostess, is not one anyone is able to say no to so Janet finds herself knocking on Doris' door the next day. What she walks into ends up being a crazy introduction to a whole new way of looking at life. Whether Janet wants to be involved with Doris and this eclectic group of women doesn't matter, they pull her into their crazy antics and sweep her along until she gets into the spirit of things herself. What she ends up finding, finally, is her tribe.
I don't want to say too much about this story or even its characters because I don't want to run the risk of spoiling the fun of this book. I laughed a lot, I felt all mushy at the friendships captured in the pages, I had fun reading it. I'm using the word "fun" a lot but I can't help myself! I can't wait to read book 2.
What a fun read! I love the idea of celebrating rejection. And this celebration of rejection is actually a celebration of friendship. Super fun story and characters, A fun stereotype of a small town and some of its residents.
Janet has been living in Southlea Bay for 5 years. She's happy there but lacks any good friendships. One day she receives a call from one of the more colorful residents of the town issuing her a mysterious invite to a secret meeting. Doris, the hostess, is not one anyone is able to say no to so Janet finds herself knocking on Doris' door the next day. What she walks into ends up being a crazy introduction to a whole new way of looking at life. Whether Janet wants to be involved with Doris and this eclectic group of women doesn't matter, they pull her into their crazy antics and sweep her along until she gets into the spirit of things herself. What she ends up finding, finally, is her tribe.
I don't want to say too much about this story or even its characters because I don't want to run the risk of spoiling the fun of this book. I laughed a lot, I felt all mushy at the friendships captured in the pages, I had fun reading it. I'm using the word "fun" a lot but I can't help myself! I can't wait to read book 2.
franceroni's review against another edition
4.0
This is a lovely book about, as the title already gives away, a "Rejected Writers' Book Club", consisting of some elder, or let's say middle-aged, women. Given certain circumstances, they have to go on a road trip from Southlea Bay to San Francisco, which turns out to be a really adventuresome trip.
I never thought that I would enjoy this book about crazy (in a positive way!), rejected ladies as much as I did. The characters were totally amiable, all of them a bit quirky, and very unique. I often found myself silently chuckling or just smiling at my phone (as I was reading it on my kindle app) while reading. Apart from the characters I also loved the choice of settings: Southlea Bay, which is basically a small town on an island, where people like to help eachother out, then the athmospheric house in the mountains, San Francisco, and also the short "digression" to a village in south England in the end. So finally, the story: At first I was a bit unsure, I mean, the ladies wanting to be rejected and all, I just didn't find it very realistic. But while reading on and getting to know the characters better, I totally understood why they didn't want their books to be published, as for them it was all about their club meetings and not about success at all. That made them even more charming in my opinion. What I loved especially was Gracie's story in the end.
This book was an absolute comfort read, which I could imagine very well to be read on a sunny afternoon in the garden (if only I had the time to read a whole afternoon, and it was summer or at least spring already...) and I would definitely recommend it.
I'd also like to thank NetGalley, Suzanne Kelman and Lake Union Publishing for providing me this free ebook!
I never thought that I would enjoy this book about crazy (in a positive way!), rejected ladies as much as I did. The characters were totally amiable, all of them a bit quirky, and very unique. I often found myself silently chuckling or just smiling at my phone (as I was reading it on my kindle app) while reading. Apart from the characters I also loved the choice of settings: Southlea Bay, which is basically a small town on an island, where people like to help eachother out, then the athmospheric house in the mountains, San Francisco, and also the short "digression" to a village in south England in the end. So finally, the story: At first I was a bit unsure, I mean, the ladies wanting to be rejected and all, I just didn't find it very realistic. But while reading on and getting to know the characters better, I totally understood why they didn't want their books to be published, as for them it was all about their club meetings and not about success at all. That made them even more charming in my opinion. What I loved especially was Gracie's story in the end.
This book was an absolute comfort read, which I could imagine very well to be read on a sunny afternoon in the garden (if only I had the time to read a whole afternoon, and it was summer or at least spring already...) and I would definitely recommend it.
I'd also like to thank NetGalley, Suzanne Kelman and Lake Union Publishing for providing me this free ebook!
suekinaz's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable cheerful book, vaguely reminiscent of Kris Radish books.
hannahprall's review against another edition
3.0
I would give this book 2-1/2 stars but rounded up. I would not recommend to anyone under 40 years old. I pushed through this book because our book club was reading it. I thought that the characters were over exaggerated, in a way that the personality of bold and confident was turned into forceful and controlling. I think the author intended for the over the top personalities of the characters to be entertaining but I found it annoying. Also, the plot had too many mishaps, so much that I was wondering if they’d ever make it to their destination and only kept reading because I felt obligated. The ending was enjoyable and provided good closure. This aimed at an older group of women as I related most to Janet’s daughter (she seemed personable for a pregnant lady that has unexpected visitors of her slightly icy mom and her 4 kooky companions). Favorite part of the entire story? The raccoon
monimmr's review against another edition
2.0
A quirky read!
To be honest it was not what I was expecting when I bought it but it was entertaining in a way.
To be honest it was not what I was expecting when I bought it but it was entertaining in a way.
winchesterkim's review against another edition
While I enjoyed the premise of this book, I found it dragged a bit, and I wasn't able to finish it.
The premise is to get back a manuscript, that has been accepted - Which we are led to believe is the main reason the author wants it back, because it will ruin their perfect record of rejection letters. We find out along the way this is not the real reason for wanting to get the book back; the author doesn't want to embarrass her mom. As this appears to be an urgent matter, emergency meetings are called and the ladies of the club come up with an elaborate scheme to get the book back.
This is where they lose me. If it so urgent why not pick up the phone and call them? Why decided to road trip it from the Seattle area down to San Fran, and sight see along the way? Once they get on the road there is no sense of urgency from either the members of the book club nor from the driver, Janet Johnson, the newest member of the club Janet has never had a book rejected - she works in the local library, and so the other ladies feel she knows something about the publishing business. To me that is like saying because you work at a department store you know something about fashion design.
Janet is heading down to San Fran to take care of her pregnant daughter who is having complications and the son-in-law has to go on a business trip. She and the daughter have a difficult relationship, but she wants to help and maybe this is a way they can start to heal. Because she has a finite time she can be gone I would think there would be a sense of urgency to get there. But when issues start to arise along the way I didn't feel her underlying desire to get there.
Everyone seemed happy to make lemonade (and cake, dinner and cinnamon buns) out of the lemons thrown in their way. And along the way they meet some interesting characters, but this was not enough to hold my attention. There seemed to be too many goals and plot points in this book, and therefore for me too scattered.
The premise is to get back a manuscript, that has been accepted - Which we are led to believe is the main reason the author wants it back, because it will ruin their perfect record of rejection letters. We find out along the way this is not the real reason for wanting to get the book back; the author doesn't want to embarrass her mom. As this appears to be an urgent matter, emergency meetings are called and the ladies of the club come up with an elaborate scheme to get the book back.
This is where they lose me. If it so urgent why not pick up the phone and call them? Why decided to road trip it from the Seattle area down to San Fran, and sight see along the way? Once they get on the road there is no sense of urgency from either the members of the book club nor from the driver, Janet Johnson, the newest member of the club Janet has never had a book rejected - she works in the local library, and so the other ladies feel she knows something about the publishing business. To me that is like saying because you work at a department store you know something about fashion design.
Janet is heading down to San Fran to take care of her pregnant daughter who is having complications and the son-in-law has to go on a business trip. She and the daughter have a difficult relationship, but she wants to help and maybe this is a way they can start to heal. Because she has a finite time she can be gone I would think there would be a sense of urgency to get there. But when issues start to arise along the way I didn't feel her underlying desire to get there.
Everyone seemed happy to make lemonade (and cake, dinner and cinnamon buns) out of the lemons thrown in their way. And along the way they meet some interesting characters, but this was not enough to hold my attention. There seemed to be too many goals and plot points in this book, and therefore for me too scattered.
junkie_forthe_written_word's review against another edition
5.0
This books is *the definition* of a good summer read. It's light and fluffy while also hilarious and unpretentious.